Japan's hip-hop grandma is back, this time to promote rice

Tachiflower has released her new video, a "Koi Dance" styled number to promote rice consumption.

The Japanese hip-hop grandma is back with a bang. The 60-year-old dancer Tachiflower has released her new video, a "Koi Dance" styled number to promote rice consumption among the younger generation.

The grandma dancers became an instant hit after a video of their hip-hop emerged online in 2016 dancing to Bruno Mars' hit 24K Magic. It had Tachiflower dancing alongside 56-year-old Mash and 61-year-old Tori. According to Rocketnews, the dance was so popular that it toppled the viral Pen-pineapple-pen sensation.

"Together, the three show off some of the singer's signature dance moves from the 24K Music video clip. Tight-fitting kimonos are well known for restricting movement, which only makes these moves even more impressive," the article opined.

AsiaOne reports: "The video, titled No Rice No Life, is promoted by Japan's National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations to get the younger generation interested in keeping traditional dining cuisines alive. The choreography is styled after the 'Koi Dance', an emerging dance craze from popular J-drama, 'We married as a job', which swept across Japan last December."

In traditional Japanese cuisine, rice plays a key role and is the most important grain of all. However, over the years the consumption has gone down and the urban crowd (especially youngsters) prefer fast food meals over a bowl of rice. A post on FT reported: "Japan's rice crisis starts with its older, smaller stomachs. As the population ages, appetites are shrinking. Diets among younger Japanese favor wheat and the country is eating about 20 percent less rice than it did two decades ago."

Further, international trade pacts such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership has further diminished the country's rice-producing capabilities.

These changes have pushed the Japanese people to eat bread or pasta at least once a day along with lots of meat. The consumption of wheat has also gone high rapidly in addition to other products such as soybeans and corn that are imported mainly from the U.S.